In God We Trust

Dear Lord; Happy Monday Father!

First off Lord, I want to thank You for a lovely weekend.  Jonathan was feeling a bit better, so we were able to get out to visit with some good friends Saturday night and then spent Sunday afternoon and evening with my father (the earthly one… 🙂 ) and his wife.  The children love visiting with their grandparents, and it was wonderful to be able to get out and spend time with them.  All in all, a very restful and enjoyable couple of days and I thank You for that time of respite.

This evening Father, I’d like to discuss something that’s been on my heart quite a bit as of late.

A couple months ago, I was contacted via email by a lady I hadn’t met before about possibly presiding over her upcoming wedding.  She was a friend of a very good friend of mine, so I asked some questions to make sure it was feasible for me to do so.  The date seemed fine, but she really didn’t have much of an idea of what kind of wedding ceremony she was interested in.  I pointed her to some online resources with sample ceremonies and told her to look through them to get some ideas about what fit her and her fiancée’s wishes.  Last week, I finally got around to reading my emails on that account and found that she’d sent me what she deemed the “perfect” script for her special day.

There was absolutely no reference to You in any way, shape or form.

The ceremony she’d chosen was a completely secular proceeding, save for an “optional” prayer at the end.  Now Father, it was a lovely, very sentimental and poetic script to be sure, but in my mind it completely misses the point; marriage is of Your Design for us:

“But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female’.  For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.  So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” – Mark 10:6-9 (NIV)

I sent the bride-to-be a politely worded response that although it was a lovely secular ceremony, it was my responsibility as a Christian Minister to bring Your Presence to the proceedings, and that I wasn’t able to represent Your intentions for the Holy Bond of marriage properly with that script.  I hold marriage to be one of Your most personal and intimate Gifts to us, and I feel it’s very important to honor that Blessing appropriately during the formation of that union.

Needless to say, I haven’t heard back from her as of yet.

But this got me to thinking Father… Aren’t we doing the same thing in many other ways as well in society today?

We’ve removed open prayer in schools and many other public places as to not “offend” anyone.

Television commercials are being banned from airing during certain popular television programs to avoid giving a “platform” to any religious groups.

The Pledge of Allegiance has been under attack because the words “under God” upset some people.

It’s disturbing to say the least Father, and I’m seeing more and more signs of it each day.  In an effort to not be “confrontational”, we as Christians in many cases “drop the ball” when reflecting Your Light and passing along Your Message of Love and Hope to others around us.

Heavenly Father, You’ve Blessed us all with remarkable gifts.  Please help strengthen and embolden us to carry the lantern of Your Light proudly in front of us so that everyone may see Your Wonders and feel Your Presence.  In God we Trust. Amen.

~Phather Phil